TV actor claims discrimination at high-end Vancouver store

Kirk Acevedo, an American who stars in the B.C. filmed TV show Arrow, says he was discriminated against at the Coach store in downtown Vancouver.

Acevedo, who is of Puerto Rican descent, wrote Tuesday in a Twitter post that he was outside the luxury-fashion outlet waiting for it to open when a salesperson refused to let him in.

“The salesperson looked me up and down and asked me if I was going to buy anything, and when I said, ‘Did you really just ask me that?,’ she proceeded to lock the door on me,” Acevedo wrote.

Acevedo says the store remained locked until a white customer showed up.

In a statement Thursday afternoon, Coach said one of the company’s core values is inclusion.

“We are deeply committed to diversity and do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We are investigating the issue and will be reaching out to Mr. Acevedo directly,” the statement said.

Acevedo, whose long list of acting credits also includes a threeyear stint on the Vancouver-filmed science-fiction series Fringe, said the ironic part was that he was wearing a T-shirt featuring a picture of baseball great Jackie Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball’s colour barrier in 1947.

Acevedo didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

It’s not the first time a Vancouver high-end retailer has been accused of discrimination. Last year, hiphop artist Tory Lanez said he was mistreated by a white employee at Holt Renfrew before dropping $35,000 in the store.

The Georgia Straight reported Lanez said, in a now-deleted tweet, that a Holt Renfrew salesperson “tried to play me like I was broke.”

Lanez said the salesperson, who eventually got the commission on his sale, was black.